Degree | Type | Year |
---|---|---|
Philosophy | OB | 3 |
You can view this information at the end of this document.
It is recommended to have studied History of Ancient Philosophy and History of Modern Philosophy.
This course offers an introduction to one of the main schools of contemporary philosophy: Analytic Philosophy.
We will begin by tracing its historical and conceptual development, starting from the dream of constructing a perfect language and the formalization of thought in logic and mathematics—from Llull and Leibniz, through to Frege, Russell, and Moore. These foundational figures will help us understand the shift from the philosophy of mathematics to the philosophy of language and eventually to everyday philosophical reflection.
We will also explore parallel paths, such as the logical pragmatism of Peirce, and the pioneering contribution of Susan Stebbing, who applied analytic philosophy to public reasoning and democratic education. Through Hilbert and the ambitions of the formalist program, we will reach the crisis of formalization articulated by Gödel, whose incompleteness theorems marked the limits of logical systems.
At the core of the course will be the study of Ludwig Wittgenstein, the most central figure of the analytic tradition. We will examine his two majorworks, the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and the Philosophical Investigations, as well as other texts on aesthetics, ethics, psychology, and mathematics.
We will relate his thought to issues such as language performativity, meaning in use, subjectivity, and value, showing how these ideas remain relevant and influential.
Finally, we will reflect on the contemporary relevance of analytic philosophy, observing how current thinkers continue to apply its tools to address real-world, everyday, and social philosophical problems, including expressive forms such as pop culture and identity discourse.
Introduction: The dream of the perfect language
Llull, Leibniz and the idea of a universal language.
The birth of symbolic logic and its connections with mathematics.
Peirce and logical pragmatism: signs, inference, and logic as a science of thought.
Frege: Logic, language, and the foundations of arithmetic
Sense and reference.
Logicism and formal semantics.
Russell, Moore, and Stebbing: Realism, logical analysis, and critique of conceptual confusion
Critique of idealism and defense of common sense.
Russell's paradox and the theory of descriptions.
Susan Stebbing: clear analysis of everyday thinking, logic, and democratic education.
Foundations for the philosophy of language and rigorous argumentation.
Hilbert and the formalist program
The ambition to axiomatize all of mathematics.
Consistency, completeness, and decidability as ideals.
Influence on 20th-century logic and epistemology.
Gödel: The limits of formalization
Incompleteness theorems (1931).
Crisis of the logicist and formalist program.
Structural limits of symbolic language and formal reason.
The early Wittgenstein: Tractatus and the limits of language
The world as a set of facts.
Saying versus showing.
Wittgenstein’s Lecture on Ethics
Ethics as inexpressible.
Value and meaning beyond logic.
The later Wittgenstein: Language games and use
Critique of formalism.
Philosophy as description.
Ethics, aesthetics, and psychology in the later Wittgenstein
Expression, forms of life, and understanding the subjective.
Contemporary relevance of analytic philosophy
Recent developments in language, science, and mind.
Connections with pragmatics, discourse, and other philosophical traditions.
Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
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Type: Directed | |||
Discussion in class of required readings. | 25 | 1 | 2, 5, 3, 8, 17, 15, 13, 14 |
Lectures. | 40 | 1.6 | 5, 7, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 |
Type: Supervised | |||
Preparation of presentations/written papers. | 30 | 1.2 | 2, 5, 6, 3, 8, 17, 10, 11, 15, 12, 13, 16 |
Resolution of doubts. | 19.5 | 0.78 | 10, 11, 16 |
Type: Autonomous | |||
Required and supplementary readings. | 31 | 1.24 | 2, 5, 7, 6, 3, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16 |
The guided activities follow the methodology of learning based on the approach and problem solving. These activities are basically of two types:
a) Theoretical presentations of the subject with discussion of problems related to it by the teacher.
b) Argumentation practices in the classroom through scheduled lectures. The student will have to read texts that will be presented and discussed by all the students in such a way that they capture the main ideas and the internal relations of the text.
Theoretical and practical classes will alternate throughout the course.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Examination on topics 1 to 5 and their required readings. | 40% | 1.5 | 0.06 | 2, 5, 7, 3, 8, 17, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 |
Examination on topics 6 to 10 and their required readings. | 40% | 1.5 | 0.06 | 2, 5, 7, 6, 3, 8, 17, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 |
in-class contribution | 20% | 1.5 | 0.06 | 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 6, 3, 8, 17, 10, 11, 15, 9, 12, 13, 14, 16 |
This subject allows the use of AI technologies as an integral part of the submitted work,
provided that the final result reflects a significant contribution from the student in terms of
analysis and personal reflection.
The student must clearly (i) identify which parts have been generated using AI technology; (ii)
specify the tools used; and (iii) include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the
process and final outcome of the activity.
Lack of transparency regarding the use of AI in the assessed activity will be considered academic
dishonesty; the corresponding grade may be lowered, or the work may even be awarded a zero.
In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.
It is possible that the Department of Philosophy will establish (as was done during the first semester) a period of concentrated assessment tests. At the beginning of the course, it will be indicated whether such a period exists and what the dates of the tests are.
1. Required readings (available on the Virtual Campus).
2. Reference books:
Maria Ponte Azcárate, David Pérez Chico & Moisés Barroso (eds.), Plurality of Analytic Philosophy, Madrid: Plaza y Valdés, 2007.
Javier Muguerza, The Analytic Conception of Philosophy, Madrid: Alianza, 1974.
Doxiadis, A., Papadimitriou, C., Papadatos, A., & Di Donna, A. (2022). Logicomix. Vuibert.
Monk, R. (2006). Ludwig Wittgenstein. Anagrama.
Bouveresse, J. (2004). Wittgenstein and Aesthetics. Universitat de València, Servei de Publicacions.
Pears, D. (1987). The False Prison: A Study of the Development of Wittgenstein's Philosophy. Clarendon Press.
Stebbing, S. (1939). Thinking to Some Purpose. Penguin.
(A classic on clear thinking and everyday reasoning.)
Anscombe, G. E. M. (1957). Intention. Harvard University Press.
(A foundational work in the philosophy of action.)
Peirce, C. S. (1992–1998). The Essential Peirce, vols. I–II. Indiana University Press.
(Representative selection of his work on logic and semiotics.)
Dummett, M. (1993). Origins of Analytical Philosophy. Harvard University Press.
(Concise history of the emergence of the analytic tradition.)
Nagel, E. & Newman, J. R. (1958). Gödel's Proof. New York University Press.
(An accessible explanation of the incompleteness theorems.)
3. Online resources:
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu/
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://iep.utm.edu
None.
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
---|---|---|---|---|
(PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
(TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |